Updates

Candidate Nomination Meeting

Everyone is welcome at our Candidate Nomination Meeting on Saturday January 26th, 11:00 am-1:00 pm, at the Orangeville Public Library, 1 Mill St., Orangeville. Residents of Dufferin-Caledon who are eligible to vote in Ontario and are members of the Green Party of Ontario may cast their vote. Paula Conning, our Federal Party Association's CEO is standing for the nomination. Mike Schreiner, the Leader of the GPOI, and Rob Strang, our previous candidate are speaking.

Provincial Candidate Nominations

Dufferin- Caledon, the strongest electoral district for the Green Party of Ontario, is accepting nominations for our next candidate. On January 26th, Dufferin- Caledon party members will select the candidate who is most likely to be Ontario’s First Green Party Member of Provincial Parliament. Ontario needs at least one Green Party MPP who will champion fertile land, pure water, cooperation in parliament, local job creation, and real public education. Have you had enough of partisan politics and waste? We are socially progressive, fiscally and environmentally responsible. We plan for a better future

2012 Year End Message

The DC Greens wish everyone happy, safe, healthy, fun holidays!

As we look back on 2012 we marvel at the successes of Elizabeth May- Parliamentarian of the Year. Our first Green MP has demonstrated supreme competence, collegiality, positivity, and an unwavering determination to protect and promote the well-being of our environment and all its life forms. In the angry divisive sandbox on parliament hill Ms. May has demonstrated the ongoing power of living by our principles and the universal truths that build peaceful societies. She is demonstrating daily that we are motivated by our Canadian and global vision for a healthy and secure present and a sustainable future. She will breakdown the Conservative majority’s brick wall.

We almost sent her some help from Victoria and Calgary Centre with strong by-election results. 2015 will be Green.

Here in Ontario we’re paying for Dalton McGuinty’s foibles. He doesn’t feel like being the leader of his party anymore so he instigated the prorogation of our parliament while his party selects a new leader. All the legislative work has halted, and all the committees are on hiatus, because Mr. McGuinty has chosen to step down from the leadership. We elected these MPPs just 13 months ago.

With Ontario’s debt creeping towards $300 Billion, our manufacturing sector struggling, and our public sector spending bloated we need a real working parliament.

Here in Dufferin-Caledon we are all breathing easier with the surprise withdrawal of the Highland Companies Mega-Quarry application. Following successful opposition to neighbouring environmentally damaging applications, like Simcoe’s Site 41 Dump and Caledon’s Rockford Quarry we are reminded that our future depends on individuals and organizations who stand up to protect the things we value- pure water, clear air, fertile land, strong communities, human rights equity, financial stability, non-violence.

Going into 2013 we think a spring provincial election is likely- resulting from Premier McGuinty’s quitting the leadership, not from an inherent instability of minority parliaments. We have scheduled a Candidate Nomination Meeting for Saturday January 26th at 11:00 am at the Orangeville Public Library, Mill Street Branch. Check our website www.dcgreens.ca for updates. Dufferin-Caledon residents who are eligible to vote and have been members of the Green Party of Ontario for a minimum of 14 days prior to the meeting re eligible to vote. Join the Green Party of Ontario through our website before January 12th so you can have your say in selecting our candidate!

Finally, no letter from a political party association is complete without a request for contributions. Our Dufferin-Caledon provincial association’s coffers are almost empty. We do not receive financial support from the Provincial or Federal Green Parties. Our DC Greens team is good, but not good enough to run a strong campaign without money. Our 2011 federal and provincial results were by far the strongest in Ontario because Ard Van Leeuwen and Rob Strang were top-notch candidates,our volunteers ROCKED, and because we had great offices, hundreds of signs, and a strong expensive newspaper advertising campaign. Please consider donating to our Provincial association through our website. Individuals may donate up to $1240.00 annually to provincial associations and donations are eligible for up to 75% in tax credits. If you donate $200.00, you will receive $150.00 in tax credits, and your actual cost is $50.00. A chart of contributions and tax credits is available on this website. Contributions received prior to December 31st are eligible for 2012 credits.

Donations to our federal association are also welcome as the ‘per vote subsidy’ is being phased out and we will increasingly depend on voluntary contributions.

Please contact us if you would like to help our association. We’re all volunteers.

Thank you for your continuing support and we hope to see you on January 26th.

Paula Conning Debbie Goss
CEO, DC Federal Green Association President, DC Provincial Green Association